hopkins



March 22 1927. 1,621,782

. H. A HOPKINS APPARATUS FOR TREATING CRUDE OILS Filed Feb. 16. 1925 2. Sheets-sheaf, 1

144/701? 4o -3ig'p21 0/4 kart-n INVENTOR. HARRY A. HOPKINS.

BY ATTORNEY March 22 y 1927 H. A. HOPKINS APPARATUS FOR TREATING CRUDE OILS Filed Feb. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. HARRY AHOPKINS.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 22, 1927.

UNITED STATES HARRY A. HOPKINS, OF TAFT, CALIFORNIA.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING CRUDE OILS.

Application filed February 16, 1925.

This invention relates more specifically to an apparatus for treating discarded crude petroleum oils in order to dehydrate the same, and at the same time remove detrimental foreign matter therefrom in order to render the oils merchantable.

In the treatment of petroleum oils large quantities of such oils are so highly impregnated with water, and contain such large quantities of foreign matter, such as sand, mud, etc. that it is impossible to economically treat the same by the usual methods now in vogue, and as a consequence such refuse oils are delivered to sumps and burnt at intervals. The sumps in which the refuse oils are deposited entail a great expense to the oil companies to maintain the same against seepages therefrom to adjacent agriculturallands, and the constant danger of fires. By means of the apparatus herein described, such refuse oils may be economically treated to dehydrate the same to a point that would cut to less than 3% (gaugers test) of water, and to remove the major portion of foreign matter therefrom, thus recovering valuable oil from the refuse, and eliminating the expense of maintaining large sumps for their reception.

It is a main object of the invention to provide an apparatus that will effectually dehydrate hydro-carbon oils, and at the same time thoroughly wash and cleanse the same of foreign matter contained therein to render the resultant product of commercial value.

This disclosure is to be regarded as descriptive only and not as restrictive or limitive of the invention, of which obviously an embodiment may be constructed including many minor modifications without departing from the general scope herein indicated and hereinafter claimed.

In the drawings hereto annexed and forming a part of the following specification:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating diagrammatically the apparatus, and mechanisms connected therewith, the arrows and indicia thereon indicating the course of the oils, vapors and water therethrough.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view with the casing head removed.

Fig. 3 is a central vertical section through the apparatus.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged partial vertical sec- Serial No. 9,457.

tion through a pair of the heat jacketed oil conveying tubes of the apparatus.

Flg. 5 is a top plan view of the above.

Fig. 6 is a sectional plan view of one of the heat jacketed tubes, taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 4.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, and especially to Fig. 8, 1O designates a cylindrical casing approximately the size of a large tubular boiler, having flanged ends and is vertically mounted on supports. Bolted to the flange of the lower end of the casing is a conical head 11 provided in its apex with a drain outlet opening 12, and an oil inlet opening 13. Bolted or otherwise secured to the upper flanged end of the easing is a cylindrical casing 14 having a head 15 provided with a man-hole 16 in the center thereof to enable access to the interior of the casing when necessary. Bolted or otherwise secured a short distance below the upper end of casing 10, is a transversely disposed flue plate 17, and above its lower flanged end is a similar flue plate 18, concaved on its upper face.

Flue plates 17, 18, are each provided with a plurality of circular openings in which are mounted a plurality of open ended tubes 19 for the passage therethrough of crude oils that are being treated from the lower to the upper chambers as will be described further on.

Mounted in the open ended tubes 19 are a plurality of heat directing tubes or flues 21, of an external diameter slightly less than the internal diameters of said tubes 19, in order that the oil passing upwardly therethrough will be directed in a thin cylindrical film or body so that it may be readily and quickly heated to dehydrate the same.

The upper and lower ends of tubes 21 extend I which in this instance is shown as being oppositely disposed to the intake pipe line.

Concentrically disposed within tubes 21 are a plurality of tubes 26 of the same length as tubes 21, the spaces between the tubes 21 and 26 at their upper and lower ends being sealed by flanges 27 so that the live steam will he directed in a continuous circuit through the spaces formed by tubes 21 and 26 from the inlet 24 to the outlet end 25 as heretofore noted. withintubes-26 and extending above and below the upper and lower ends thereof are a plurality of tubes 30, their upper and lower ends being connected by short transversely disposed tubes 31 inorder to form a complete circuit throughout said tubes from the heat inlet 82 to the heat outlet end as clearly shown in Fig. f the drawings.

By forcing the oils to be treated (after the initial washing and cleansing operation) upwardly in thin tubular heat jacketed columns, the excess water contained in the oils will be rapidly separated therefrom, its heavier specific gravity causing the same to fall downwardly into the chamber or sump formed by the conical head at the lower end of the casing.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 1

and 3 of the drawings, the refuse oil sump which may be located adjacent to the oil treating apparatus, is connected by a pipe line 41 to a cylindrical pre-oil heater drum 42, the oil flowing thereto by gravity or a force pump 43, depending upon the location of the sump with respect to the apparatus. Drum 42 may be of such size that it will readily preheat the oil passing therethrough, and is provided in its interior with a suitable steam coil 44 connected to a source of steam supply by a pipe line 45 leading from the casing of the apparatus. The preheated oil leaves the drum through a pipe line 46 and enters through oil inlet 13 into the conical head 11 of the casing where it is first treated to a washing action by means of a perforated pipe 47 horizontally disposed in the lower end of the cylindrical casing directly above the head 11, the pipe being connected to the interior chamber of the casin formed by the flue plates, the steam condensation furnishing an adequate supply. Interposed in the pipe line leading to the perforated pipe 47 is a Fisher valve designed to prevent the flow of steam therethrough, but permitting water to readily pass to the pipe line.

As the oil to he treated fills the chamber formed by the conical head it will be forced upwardly in a plurality of thin. tubular coluinns 48, formed by each pair of nested concentric pipes, to the chamber 49 at the upper end of the casing above the flue plate. As the tubular columns of oil are subjected to the action of heat vapors released from the oil and water will partly be directed by Coucentrically disposed a pipe line 50 to a coil condenser 51 connected to a storage tank 52, the excess vapors pass downwardly through the pipe line 53 through force pump 54 and from thence are delivered through pipe line 55 to the chamber at the lower end of the casing directly above the washer pipe 47. I

In this description it will be understood that although live steam is utilized as a heating agent, any other well known heating agent, such as heated water, oil, or air, may be employed with equally satii's'lactory results. The live steam is generated in a boiler (not shown) and delivered by steam pipe line to a manifold 61 located to one side of the casing at its lower end, as clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. By means of this manifold which is provided with three outlets 62, 63, 64, the hot live steam delivered through the heat inlet openings 24,32, to the various nested tubes or flues which are mounted in the flue plates 17, and 18, of the casing. The inlet 62 leading from the manifold 61 is connected directly to the interior of the casing between the flue plates, and as the lower plate 18 is concaved on its upper surface any condensation will drain toward the center where it passes downwardly through an outlet pipe 66 and thence outwardly through the Fisher valve 67 to the washer pipe 47 as heretofore described. In the upper end of the casing and directly below the flue plate 17 is an outlet 68 which is connected by the pipe line 45 to the steam coil 44 mounted in the preheater 42, this arrangement continuously furnishing steam for the coil 44 which exhausts through a pipe 70. The steam passing through the'tubular jackets will pass through the outlets 25, 35, to a manifold fitting 75, and thence upwardly through a pipe line 76 to the pipe line 45, and from thence through the steam coil 44 to the exhaust.

The dehydrated oils after passing upwardly through theheat jacketed tubes into the upper chamber of the casing will flow through the outlet 77 and thence downwardly by pipe line 78 to an oil storage tank 79 located adjacent the casing of the apparatus.

It will be understood that the auxiliary apparatus herein illustrated, such as pum condensers, pre-heaters, valves and 11 e structures, are all of usual-form and c0nstruction, no special apparatus being needed in the practice of the herein described method.

The water and impurities that are washed from the oils being treated in the lower por-.

der merchantablc refuse hydro-carbon oils which were practically valueless, owing to the excessive expense entailed when treating them by other dehydrating and cleansing processes.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. In an apparatus for dehydrating and cleansing crude hydro-carbon oils, including a casing divided into upper and lower oil chambers with a heating chamber interposed therebetween, a plurality of open ended tubes connecting the oil chambers, each of said open ended tubes having a plurality of tubes concentrically mounted therein and spaced apart to form a plurality of heat and oil passageways, the oil passageways opening at their ends into the oil chambers, the heat passageways being connected together to form a continuous conduit, said conduit having heatinlet and outlet openings, and means to cause a circulation of oil from the lower oil chamber upwardly through the tubular passageways to the upper oil chamber and outwardly therefrom.

2. In an apparatus for dehydrating and cleansing crude hydro-carbons including a vertically disposed casing divided transversely into a plurality of chambers, the chambers at the upper and lower ends of said casing forming oil chambers, the upper chamber having an oil outlet leading therefrom and the lower having an inlet leading thereto, a pluralit of tubes connecting said chambers, a plura ity of tubes concentrically mounted and spaced apart in each of said tubes connecting said oil chambers and forming tubular oil passageways between the upper and lower oil chambers, some otthe passageways between the tubes being utillzed for the passage therethrough of a heating agent, the heat passageways of all the tubes being connected together to form a continuous conduit, said continuous heat conduit having inlet and outlet openings.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, a vertically disposed casing having transversely arranged partitions adjacent its ends, a plurality of open ended tubes connected at their ends to said partitions, a plurality of tubes concentrically mounted in each of said open ended tubes and spaced apart a portion of said second mentioned tubes being open ended and the other of said second mentioned tubes being connected with similar tubes mounted in the remaining first mentioned open ended tubes to form a continuous heat passageway, an oil washing means mounted in the casing below the lower transverse partition for washing the hydrocarbons on their entrance to said casing, a valve controlled drain in said casing at the lower end thereof, and means connected to said casing for condensing the vapors arising from the heated oils.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 29th day of January, 1925.

HARRY A. HOPKINS. 

